#faewrites

He learns very quickly by talking to Reginald that, impossibly, Henry doesn't remember what happened before in this timeline. It's like he appeared in a completely new world.

VERY LONG story short, Henry now has to navigate being the leader of the Toppats while researching his own mysterious past (and hiding fact he is a completely different person) AND while looking for his missing partners, Charles and Ellie. 

What little Henry learns before the plot picks up is that he was the ringleader of a coup against Terrence, and with the help of Reginald and RHM, he overthrew Terrence. However, Terrence and his remnants are on the rise once again. 

Hard cut to Ellie Rose, who is the second in command to Dmitri Petrov at the Wall! Dmitri views her as a daughter and a success, having ‘reformed’ her from her criminal ways. Grigori, the third in command, despises her for taking Dmitri’s attention and affection.

Ellie, meanwhile, despises her position and Dmitri. She begins to plan a riot to release the Wall’s prisoners. As a powerful psychic, how hard can it be? She begins subtly spreading word of a riot.

Hard cut to Rupert! Rupert is having an absolutely miserable time in the government. His best friend, Charles Calvin, is presumed dead after seemingly losing his mind, crashing his helicopter into the headquarters of a new government ally, the tech company the Saturn Initiative, and pursuing the SI’s CEO with a fire hatchet. The CEO, Allister Jonas, managed to flee and push Charles off of the nearby cliff, sending him to his seeming death on the rocks below.

Rupert is struggling with the knowledge his best friend is dead, and also that he died a traitor. How is he supposed to grieve someone who betrayed them so utterly, and for no discernible reason? Not having a body to confirm Charles’s death doesn't make things any easier.

He's out with a new squadron who didn't know Charles- made of Victoria Grit, Amelia Esteban, and the Bukowski twins- in the hopes that maybe he can recover from this grief and shock. 

In between here Henry learns more info, adjusts more to his new life, and continues searching for his missing partners. He is crushed and horrified when he comes across a recent report stolen from the government that proclaims one Charles Calvin, helicopter pilot, is classified as dead…

Hard cut to Charles! He is, surprisingly, not dead. Dr. V found him floating, his left side destroyed but still somehow alive, and rebuilt him. He's got a metal arm, back, and wings, and he is hellbent on destroying the organization that he tried to take out once before: the Saturn Initiative.

According to him, the SI is masquerading as a tech company focused on innovating new weapons and technology for the government using its funding and research. However, Charles did some digging, and he found the truth: the SI has a dangerous history of supplying powerful weapons to anyone who pays the highest, murdering competitors, and overtaking those they work with. It seems like the government- and its classified tech- is next on its list.

Charles brought these concerns to Galeforce, and was strangely brushed off despite his evidence. After continual dismissal and denial from both Galeforce and Rupert, an increasingly desperate and angry Charles decided to take measures into his own hands. And he ended up here.

Surprisingly, V is down to destroy the Saturn Initiative! The pair begin planning missions to take down the SI and its power hungry CEO-

-which leads to, in a terrible confrontation, Rupert and his new squadron encounter Charles looking for information about the SI’s internal systems that the government also came to secure. There's a heated confrontation where Rupert tries to wrangle answers out of Charles and Charles tries to tell him the truth. However, Rupert refuses to believe the SI is dangerous- he trusts his superiors. Charles attacks and makes off with the information, leaving Rupert reeling with shock and horror at seeing the revived, cybernetic body of his best friend.

Cut back to Henry! The Toppats’ spies have been picking up trouble brewing at the Wall, and they're planning to take advantage of it to free the Toppats left to rot there by Terrence. As they're planning, Henry learns a horrible fact: Ellie is the second in command at the wall. 

But he has no time to reflect on this! They're heading for the Wall, because the Toppats are told that this unrest could bubble over any day now.

V tells Charles she'd like him to check out the unrest at the Wall. He agrees, and they begin making their way over.

PART 2: THE WALL

Everyone converges on the Wall. The Toppats are there to rescue their own, Ellie’s staging a breakout, and Charles is there to sightsee!

The breakout begins. Ellie goes into the control room, kills the guards, and opens all the cells. The riot begins as she makes her way to the top, where she's sure Dmitri will be controlling things. 

The airship arrives, and Henry wastes no time jumping off the airship (to Reginald’s horror) and getting to the ground so he can do things with as few casualties as possible. He considers going to look for Ellie, but his choices are stringing him along and he has little choice but to follow them to his Toppats. And, if she's the second in command of the Wall… he couldn't bear to know that she might hate him.

Ellie gets to the top. Grigori finds her and attacks her, certain this is all her fault. She blasts him away with her powers and continues. 

Ellie finds Dmitri, and he begins to call for her aid. She instead attacks him, and in a quick and dirty battle, stabs him through with her spear. He falls, dying. Ellie stands over him, relishing this moment, when she hears someone coming at her.

It's Grigori, and as she spins around, he takes her moment of distraction to slash her right eye out. She blasts him away, but the damage is done. She's badly injured. She limps off into the forest.

Henry leads the Toppats out under the guise of being a normal Toppat like them. They reach the chaos of the upper level. The airship has descended at this point, and everyone rushes to get on.

Henry, seeing the dead body of Dmitri (but, oddly, not Grigori) and the trail of blood leading into the forest, hesitates. But Reginald calls for him, and he forces himself to leave with the Toppats.

But you know who else saw the blood? Charles! He follows it to find an unconscious Ellie, and has a strange moment of Déjà vu. He tells V he's coming home with a new friend, picks her up, and flies off.

Henry gets on the airship and reluctantly reveals his chieftain status. The rescued Toppats- many elites who disagreed with Terrence’s leadership- are now doubly loyal to him. Reginald scolds Henry for risking himself like that, but agrees the heist went well. Henry hides his concern about Ellie and Charles and agrees to a celebration.

AND THE FUTURE

And that's where we leave off here! Dmitri is dead, Grigori is missing, Charles just found (who he doesn't yet know to be) his other half and V is setting her sights on the SI’s newest venture- investigating these new, strange things called anomalies- while Henry is quickly settling into his new role, and Rupert is in misery. 

There's a lot more I didn't cover! The CCC is here, dragged into this new world alongside Henry, fractured and operating under emergency protocols, missing six of nine supervisors. They seem to have some serious beef with Henry, if their dogged assassination attempts are to go by. The Saturn Initiative has a history with Dr V! Anomalies seemingly didn't exist in this world until Henry arrived! Henry’s powers are really weird and he also can't die anymore! Also, what's up with that redacted stuff?

I have SO MUCH STUFF for this AU, and I plan to start posting more intro posts and information about it :)

Obviously she didn't understand and continued pulling his bangs whilst giggling at her father's 'suffering'. She's a sadist, just like her mother.

Soft footsteps could be heard from behind him and he turned to see his wife settling down onto the floor beside him. Touka intertwined her arm in his, leaned her face on his arm and stared at Ichika. "You do know she doesn't understand you, right?"

"Yeah...but there's nothing wrong with hoping. She's already 8 months old. Time sure flies. Do you think she'll start speaking soon?" He asked, staring at his wife.

Wrapping an arm around his neck, she pulled him close for a chaste kiss and smiled. Married life had done him well. He practically glowed. He used to be so gloomy, depressed, had major eye bags and a pale complexion.

Now, he looked healthy and doesn't contemplate suicide anymore. Though he lost his muscles and gained a little weight, she rather he be like this than his old self, with only bones and skin to prevent him from being blown away by the wind. Despite that, she admits she missed the way his muscles rippled under her touch and hoped to convince him to go to the gym soon.

"She will, sooner or later. But if she starts speaking, it'll mean she'll be growing up faster. Do you want that?"

His smile faded as the thought of Ichika growing up and eventually leaving them deflated him. "I guess it would still be nice to hear her call us papa and mama."

She patted his arm. "It won't be that fast. Let's just enjoy the present."

"Mm."

Supporting Ichika in one arm, he used his free hand to tickle the girl on her stomach. She burst into squeals and giggles, warming both parents' hearts. "Ichika, say papa." Kaneki prompted. "Pa, pa."

Sadly for him, she only stared at him with confusion in her eyes. But he didn't want to give up. "Pa-pa." He pronounced clearly and slowly. "Come on, you can do it. Pa-pa."

When she didn't respond to him, Touka frowned and squeezed his hand. "Don't force her. She doesn't understand yet."

Silence overcame them as they waited anxiously for her to say anything and it is only when she starts speaking that they took a huge breath.

"da... da.."

Kaneki turned to his wife excitedly with a huge grin on his face. "SHE SAID IT, TOUKA!!"

"Those aren't even correct, Ken. But well.... it's a big improvement." At his happiness, Touka couldn't help but smile along with him.

Seeing how her words elated her father, Ichika struggled to form them again and furrowed her brows in the process. "da..da."

Tears brimmed in his eyes and he allowed her to clasp her tiny hand over his finger. "She said it again..."

"Oh my god, you're crying. Jesus Ken, I swear you're more of a crybaby than Ichika!" Touka grabbed a tissue and pressed it to his eyes.

"Try mama. Ma--ma." He said.

"..na...na?"

Touka's heart fluttered at her daughter almost calling her mama. "Oh Ichika..."

Damn it, now she felt like crying because of her husband.

Seeing how happy it made them, Ichika tried her best to repeat the words again. "ba..ba, na..na."

Both parents laughed happily and Ichika giggled with them as well. Kaneki rested his forehead on his daughter's and closed his eyes. "Oh, Icchan... Papa would do anything to protect you, you know that? You're mama's and papa's flower."

Touka shoved him playfully with a smile, though not too roughly that he'd drop Ichika. "You're still saying that flower thing?"

Epithet (any pronouns) is a CCC agent with short brown hair that's swept to one side. My CCC has the quirk of its field agents being assigned an anomaly and a corresponding designation. Epithet’s anomaly is the baneful fox mask (specifically the shiny one from pokemon legends arceus). This allows them to shape shift their body into any person they want- at the cost of losing their true, original face.

Her personality is a bit complex. She pretends to be unbothered most of the time. She's a mix of serious and almost casual about her goals, but she has a sharp streak that comes out when she's frustrated, particularly when she's around Henry or a similarly chaotic entity. She likes to toy with people (particularly Henry) using the faces of people they know, but rarely this is for pleasure; she finds it amusing but generally uses this ability for utility and getting what the CCC needs. 

Epithet is primarily in Retold as the main field agent point of contact with Henry. However, you'll see him in Day’s fic Clusterhug too as a cameo!

Some fun facts about Epithet:

They've been in the CCC for 10 years now. They're extremely dedicated to the cause; the opinions and views of their supervisors are their opinions and views. They uphold their mission seriously, even if they don't show it at times. Often they act as the ‘voice’ for the CCC, a role accentuated by their masked face.

His original name was Skylar! In Clusterhug, he's Skylar the Dancer.

They work as a field agent for the CCC, and are often sent to collect anomalies or contain spots of chaos. In Retold, they also act as an emissary to Henry… when they're not trying to murder him.

While her rigid sense of duty doesn't really allow her to ruminate on this, she misses her old face, family, and friends- even if she can't quite remember them. In Retold, she actually sees her alternate self who never joined the CCC, and she doesn't really know how to feel. Who is she without the CCC? Is she anyone?

He fully believes in the CCC’s mission, and so it's difficult for him to rationalize when the CCC makes a mistake in realizing its goals. While he can admit that he himself makes errors, the CCC surely can never be wrong. Right?

They were genderfluid before the baneful fox mask, but admittedly it is nice to have the freedom to do what they like with their body.

She's a picky eater and often attempts to change into other people while eating to harness their taste buds. It doesn't often work.

He took ballet classes as a child and was in theater for a time, and that poise, grace and athleticism has stuck with him his whole life. One of the reasons he can so convincingly impersonate people is due to his ability to mimic subtle body mannerisms and speech patterns.

They like to sleep with their back to a wall and a pile of blankets protecting them. They very rarely allow themselves this comfort, though, pretending to prefer the more utilitarian lifestyle that many CCC field agents employ.

While she's not particularly close with any other CCC agents- as is the nature of CCC field agents- she often works with two other OCs of mine: Dr. Birch (she/her, trans woman), a researcher assigned to a cursed sword that grows blood vines from the wounds it scores; and Azimuth (she/they, nonbinary), a hunter/tracker who wields a compass that, when a small identifying item/piece of something is placed within its center, can track the greater object (or person) with high precision.

Reginald and RHM were fairly close with the previous Henry (who I will dub Chronos for the sake of clarity)... or, as close as anyone could be. Reginald overthrew Terrence with the guy- surely he knows Chronos well. He thinks. It's hard to tell with him.

From Henry's observations, Chronos was a very strange figure. He used sign language, like Henry does, but even with that he was quiet and imposing. His portrait shows him as a stoic, sharp-eyed person who has what could be the hint of a smile on his face. Or maybe that's just the trick of the light. He was well-liked in the Toppats, though. He was a very popular leader after the hell that was Terrence and his lot.

Reginald knew Chronos as a few things. He was clever, he was quick, and he had a frankly terrifying ability to seemingly know the future. Reginald knew this- he probably cared deeply for the Toppats. And he was Reginald's friend, even if it was hard to see it sometimes.

Then comes Henry. The person Reginald knew doesn't change much, at first. Reginald notes he's a bit more jumpy, wide-eyed when he's normally narrowed-eyed. Chronos watched things quietly, calmly, with an almost bored gaze. But lately? Henry's seemed almost manic, and sometimes he looks at Reginald with worry or fear.

But that intensity is still there. He's got that same eerie knowledge of the future, a sureness that whatever he does WILL result in his success. He still pours over every detail of a raid in his office and he still has that slightly silly side that gives him a bit of showmanship when he's in the rare jovial mood.

Reginald initially writes it off as Henry's concern about unstable Wall and the upcoming raid to free the Toppats sent there during Terrence's reign. It's an important job, and of course a control freak like Henry would be worried for it.

But Reginald knew Chronos as an, ultimately, normal man. He might have been strangely knowledgeable, he might have had weird tricks and coincidences, but he was still a normal person.

Then he watches, as the airship approaches the Wall, Henry stand on the railing, salute them, and fall back to the chaos below.

No normal man would have survived that fall. Reginald was in the middle of grappling with the fact that his leader and friend was apparently suicidal and currently no more than stain on the bloodied snow below. They dock the airship, they ready themselves to act without their leader, and then- Right Hand Man yells out to Reginald. There's Henry, alive and well and somehow not broken and bloody, leading the Toppats out of the Wall.

Reginald can't question it, not now. Not when they're bringing in these recovering Toppats, not when these rescues now worship the ground Henry stands on. A chieftain braving the chaos and bloodshed to rescue them personally? It's unheard of. It's legendary.

That's when Reginald begins to suspect something is wrong. He doesn't conclude that his friend got replaced by an alternate universe version of himself- that's just insane. But something DID happen to Henry, and he's beginning to suspect it has something to do with these new, dangerous objects called 'anomalies'...

As with all Retold related things, there's much more to this! :D But the long and short of it is that no, he doesn't conclude Chronos got replaced with Henry. Only that something is wrong with his friend.

Chronos kept all other Toppats besides Reginald and RHM at arm's length, so they hardly notice anything different, other than the fact Henry seems a bit more manic at times. The elites are too blinded by their success and the regular Toppats are too adoring of Henry to raise any concerns even if they DID see something off.

I love Reginald and Henry's relationship in this au- of course RHM is in here too, but his feelings on this are a bit different, and this is mainly an exploration of Reginald's concerns. Maybe I'll talk about RHM one day too, another thing to add to the growing list haha.

If you want one song to describe their relationship, listen to "People Watching" by Air Traffic Controller. Good song for a very very concerned Reginald.